Jump to content
The World News Media

Kingdom Songs


JW Insider

Recommended Posts

  • Member

INTRODUCTION:

It's quite possible that people who play a little on a piano, guitar, harmonica, flute/recorder, etc., might want to share their recordings of Kingdom Songs. This might encourage more people to pick up a new (or used) instrument and play a song. Of course, there will be no rule that someone can't also just sing, hum, or whistle. 

Amateurs, like me, posting their performances here could attract other amateurs who might not otherwise think it's OK to post, just because a piece has mistakes. But we could also focus on the less complex songs, and perhaps give some pointers we've learned that might help others. (For example, the places you can safely skip a hard chord on the guitar, or invert a piano chord to make it easier.)

On that note, I'll start soon by picking out the "Top 40" easy songs in the Songbook: "Sing Out Joyfully To Jehovah" and I'll first highlight the ones that are already in the Key of C.

I'll play them on harmonica, and then perhaps on recorder (a simple kind of "flute") and later hopefully, others will follow on guitar, or keyboard/piano, or ocarina. If anyone wants to join in to add their own favorite Kingdom Songs, that would be great.

Of course, this assumes that there will be enough interest in this section/topic/thread.

RULES:

None. It makes sense that more people would find a section like this entertaining if it were not used as a place to make fun of anyone's particular performances. Of course, no one should really expect this idea to be followed. There's always a critic somewhere; some with worthwhile criticism, and some worthless. After all, this is the Internet, where even YouTube comments about a cute, innocent puppy can get downright mean and nasty. Hopefully a "Kingdom Song" topic will fare a little better.

Also, it's more appealing when we do not waste space in this section with comments, rants, or diatribes about Kingdom Songs in general, JW doctrines. Anecdotes about Kingdom Songs themselves might be interesting, but that's not the main idea of this topic. If things get too out of hand, or off-topic, I might be able to move those posts to a new section. It's a forum superpower I've been granted, and I'm not afraid to use it.

IDEAS:

When someone posts a "video" people are more likely to watch than to just listen to a sound file. But when people watch a video, remember that you might accidentally be including personal information about yourself that you didn't intend. (My piano is next to a bookcase with dozens of personal pictures of brothers, sisters, friends, and family.) If this is a concern, you might want to post a sound file. I discovered that I can get a good recording on my smartphone voice recorder app, then email it, and post the attached file directly to this forum through Safari or other browser apps on the phone. It's an m4a file.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Views 1k
  • Replies 30
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Posts

Excellent playing! Thanks for that.  I love that one too. That one is fairly difficult and you performed it well.  The one I was practising is No. 43 in the new song book- "A Prayer of Thanks" in key

You played both songs magnificently, JW Insider. I wish I could contribute to this thread with an instrument or even song, but alas I do not play anything, and my voice is nothing special. I wish I ha

INTRODUCTION: It's quite possible that people who play a little on a piano, guitar, harmonica, flute/recorder, etc., might want to share their recordings of Kingdom Songs. This might encourage mo

Posted Images

  • Member

Under another topic, someone ( @Melinda Mills) spoke about some of her favorites from the 1984 Songbook (with 225 songs), and the more recent versions of the songbooks, like the gray 2017 printing, which adds songs and renumbers the songs from the 2009 update. One of those songs was song 115 in the new, which is "Gratitude for Divine Patience."

I'll add a simple harmonica version of it here:

 

 

Song115-GratitudeForDivinePatience.m4a

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

The above song 115, was played on a 10-hole Hohner "Chromatic Harmonica" sometimes called a "Chromonica." I have one that I got for $20 on eBay several years ago, and a Chromonica 64 that I played literally 50 years ago. I also bought a used one in perfect condition for replacement parts, and it must have also been nearly 40 years old.

A Chromonica is different from a simple harmonica. A few of the notes in the exact same position are designed to play different notes on one harmonica vs the other. For a simple harmonica, I have Hohner 10-hole Blues Band harmonica. You can get them used for about $5. Each type has advantages and disadvantages for certain types of playing. If you buy a used one, be sure to clean it and dry it very well, with rubbing alcohol, cotton swab, etc. If used, I actually take mine completely apart to clean all the wood and metal. Buy them new, so you don't have to worry about cleaning them, and the terrible taste of rubbing alcohol on your lips.

I will play another song, 42, "The Prayer of God's Servant," which is a good song for this kind of harmonica.

For this particular song, I make both types of harmonicas sound similar, but it is easier to add rhythmic sounds and even some harmonies on the simple harmonica. One disadvantage is that the simple one will usually not have all the notes that you need, because it's usually just over two octaves of the standard 8 notes in the octave -- no sharps or flats. The chromonica has about the same range of octaves but with ALL the sharps and flats that you might need, too.

 

 

 

Song42-ThePrayerOfGodsServant.m4a

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

Excellent playing! Thanks for that.  I love that one too. That one is fairly difficult and you performed it well.  The one I was practising is No. 43 in the new song book- "A Prayer of Thanks" in key of C. 

My favourite song though among the newer ones is "Beauty in Grayheadedness" - No. 138.  Just realized that grey is spelled 'gray' in the song heading. Maybe a US thing.

Also thanks for the background information on the harmonica and the chromonica.  Getting an education already.  Off to a good start. 

Also like the rules you laid down int he penultimate paragraph.  (Check messages)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

You played both songs magnificently, JW Insider. I wish I could contribute to this thread with an instrument or even song, but alas I do not play anything, and my voice is nothing special. I wish I had listened to my mum and learned to play the piano, but alas, I was more interested in running through the fields and climbing trees to read a book. HOWEVER, I do think I have some musical talent though, that was just never channeled (lol, lol) and I love singing and music of all sorts (in the classical department Mozart is my favourite, especially his operas, but then I also like many of the groups and bands from the 80' up to the present. I discovered a talented young rock band not long ago; "Greta van Fleet" sorry, I digress,  this is supposed to be about kingdom songs).

I wish that the friends were more into singing and playing instruments, it seem that it was quite common in years past where brothers and sisters would get together to play and sing Kingdom Songs. Trying to get them to do this now is like pulling teeth. At least in America it seems. Maybe this is why the organization has introduced the "original" songs, which sound more like something younger people would like.

I remember as a young teenager getting together with friends who played the guitar and we would sit around the campfire, cook bratwursts and sing "tramp" songs, a kind of folk genre. This original song reminds me of a "tramp" song: https://www.jw.org/en/publications/music-songs/original-songs/just-around-the-corner/

There are a few older ones, in our hall in their late 70's and older who remember the days when they would get together to sing. One brother in particular (he is 94) could have sang professionally but he didn't chose that path. I can tell his voice was amazing at one time, because despite his age he still sounds great. I try to do a sing song gathering every other month in our house, and it's so much fun once everyone relaxes a bit. I got quite frustrated with some of the younger ones (the under 60's)  at one time, but discovered the beauty of wine or bourbon. Everyone seems much more cooperative once they've had a few. I also grow mint for Mojito. Whatever it takes!

I apologize, I know the intention of this topic was to post music, and not my blabbings...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

Don't apologize about the babblings, we are not one-dimensional, we are complex people and music comes from the whole person and his experiences. More likely than not you are multi-talented. It just has to be cultivated. In fact we are all musical.  Look how quickly the brothers learned the new songs in 2009 and 2016 and they sing from screens with just words. In the new system we will have time to discover lots of things about ourselves.   I enjoyed what you wrote. People, I believe, are changing because they are distracted by technology. Persons who stick to what humanity is about will always have rich lives and people will always enjoy having  them around. Look at a few videos on Youtube and see how people enjoy singing, playing music, and sincere expression of the human spirit.  They want to clap forever. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
20 hours ago, Anna said:

HOWEVER, I do think I have some musical talent though, that was just never channeled (lol, lol) and I love singing and music of all sorts (in the classical department Mozart is my favourite,

I like Mozart the best as well, but I believe I was partial to his music since I got a gift of a long-playing LP with quite a few of his concertos when I was at high school.  I used to listen to them over and over again; my eldest brother also became an enthusiast and used to borrow it from me often.  Recently I fell in love with Andante from Mozart's Concerto No. 21.  I also discovered Rachmaninov,  one of the composers from the Romantic period (just after Mozart, Lizst, Chopin, etc)  I think he was a Russian. The pop song, All by Myself is derived, from his Concerto No. 2, Adagio Sostenuto.  I also love singing and was fairly competent at it, but ageing affects one's lung capacity, I believe. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

I'm happy for the discussions about appreciating music. My father moved us from California to Missouri in 1964 to 'serve where the need was greater' and he was often looked at very suspiciously for all his classical records, and a few other styles, too. Mozart, Bach, Beethoven etc., were generally considered to represent false religious church music by other Witnesses. He had to keep most of these records under wraps, and kept about half of them at his lab where he worked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

That's a shame that your father had to keep them under wraps.  It was still able  to influence your taste in music and interest in playing music. Reminds me of what happened to people like Galileo and others who had to hide beneficial beliefs from others because of the ignorance of some in authority.  My take is that these gifts are from God, and that they were allowed to come about to uplift mankind when things were especially dark in the world; e.g. lack of human rights, slavery, inquisitions, concentration camps, etc. There was even a period called the "Dark Ages".  Some pieces of classical music are so good that you feel you were transported "out of this world" for a few minutes. ( Look at the comments under these videos of classical music.  Also look at he attendance  at some of these concerts and what people pay to attend.)  Many people in their comments say it is a shame such good music is in the world and few people know about it. Look at the quality of the music that is played daily - cannot even compare.

Look at the Jewish lady (I think she was from Poland) that survived the concentration camps because she could play music to a very high level and they let her live, though other members of her family perished. 

Also a lot of the music written by Handel, for example,  was written for the enjoyment of mankind but the church, being powerful at the time, hijacked it for themselves and called  it church music.

All brothers are not unappreciative. In the seventies on the occasion of a new Kingdom Hall dedication, classical music  was played in the background before the start of the dedication service. We have so much theocratic music now that that  won't be needed now,  that but that is just to show that all brothers are not prejudiced to classical music. 

I have just remembered that Mozart was introduced to me through the high school I attended. Every morning before the school prayers, it would be played on the school stereo until the headteacher came in to start prayers.  Afterwards I got the LP with some of his Concertos.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
6 hours ago, JW Insider said:

...very suspiciously for all his classical records, and a few other styles, too. Mozart, Bach, Beethoven etc., were generally considered to represent false religious church music by other Witnesses.

I guess Missouri is mostly country folk?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member

Here is a list of the "simple" TOP 40 (45) songs from the current 2017 songbook. There are a few that might not seem so simple, but they are here because they have a long history in Witness memories, especially for the slightly older ones among us. But even the most complex from pre-2009, are still much simpler than the more complex ones since then. (Although the more complex ones are generally much prettier.)

I have tried to include EVERY current song that goes back at least to the 1966 songbook, and a few of these also go back to the green 1950 and some to the grey 1928 songbook.

These are the "TOP FORTY-FIVE" 2017 songs that go back almost unchanged musically to at least 1966:

  • Note that some have the same title, and almost the same words, but the music is completely changed, and they won't be included.
  • Some have completely different words, even a completely different topic, but the music is almost identical to a prior song, and they will be included.
  • Some have nearly the same melody but with only a very few adjustments, and they will be included.
  • Some have similar music, and the melody is different, but it's close enough so that the previous version could still harmonize with it, or even match it in several places, and if enough similarities are there, they will be included.
  • Some of the new songs were known only through songs repeated since the 1970's in convention "dramas" (72, 110, 149, etc.) and will not be included.

 

Others that at least partially match 1966 or 1950 songs are here:

I think of the above as "easy" because they are so well known for so long, but some of the newer ones are very easy, too. These following two, are just a couple examples, and both are in the Key of C, with no additional sharps or flats in the melody:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Member
4 hours ago, Melinda Mills said:

My take is that these gifts are from God, and that they were allowed to come about to uplift mankind when things were especially dark in the world; e.g. lack of human rights, slavery, inquisitions, concentration camps, etc. It is still dark after the Renaissance, there was even a period called the "Dark Ages".  Some pieces of classical music are so good that you feel you were transported "out of this world" for a few minutes.

I agree. It makes me also think of the amazing artists from the Renaissance period, all of them heavily influenced by the church. But then there was nothing else at the time was there? They didn't know any better.....

I also love Handle's Messiah and Schubert's Ave Maria. And Gruber's "silent night" is beautiful when sang by a professional choir. Of course I would never sing it in front of anyone for fear of stumbling them.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites





  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Popular Contributors

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • It appears to me that this is a key aspect of the 2030 initiative ideology. While the Rothschilds were indeed influential individuals who were able to sway governments, much like present-day billionaires, the true impetus for change stems from the omnipotent forces (Satan) shaping our world. In this case, there is a false God of this world. However, what drives action within a political framework? Power! What is unfolding before our eyes in today's world? The relentless struggle for power. The overwhelming tide of people rising. We cannot underestimate the direct and sinister influence of Satan in all of this. However, it is up to individuals to decide how they choose to worship God. Satanism, as a form of religion, cannot be regarded as a true religion. Consequently, just as ancient practices of child sacrifice had a place in God's world, such sacrifices would never be accepted by the True God of our universe. Despite the promising 2030 initiative for those involved, it is unfortunately disintegrating due to the actions of certain individuals in positions of authority. A recent incident serves as a glaring example, involving a conflict between peaceful Muslims and a Jewish representative that unfolded just this week. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/11/us-delegation-saudi-arabia-kippah?ref=upstract.com Saudi Arabia was among the countries that agreed to the initiative signed by approximately 179 nations in or around 1994. However, this initiative is now being undermined by the devil himself, who is sowing discord among the delegates due to the ongoing Jewish-Hamas (Palestine) conflict. Fostering antisemitism. What kind of sacrifice does Satan accept with the death of babies and children in places like Gaza, Ukraine, and other conflicts around the world, whether in the past or present, that God wouldn't? Whatever personal experiences we may have had with well-known individuals, true Christians understand that current events were foretold long ago, and nothing can prevent them from unfolding. What we are witnessing is the result of Satan's wrath upon humanity, as was predicted. A true religion will not involve itself in the politics of this world, as it is aware of the many detrimental factors associated with such engagement. It understands the true intentions of Satan for this world and wisely chooses to stay unaffected by them.
    • This idea that Satan can put Jews in power implies that God doesn't want Jews in power. But that would also imply that God only wants "Christians" including Hitler, Biden, Pol Pot, Chiang Kai-Shek, etc. 
    • @Mic Drop, I don't buy it. I watched the movie. It has all the hallmarks of the anti-semitic tropes that began to rise precipitously on social media during the last few years - pre-current-Gaza-war. And it has similarities to the same anti-semitic tropes that began to rise in Europe in the 900's to 1100's. It was back in the 500s AD/CE that many Khazars failed to take or keep land they fought for around what's now Ukraine and southern Russia. Khazars with a view to regaining power were still being driven out into the 900's. And therefore they migrated to what's now called Eastern Europe. It's also true that many of their groups converted to Judaism after settling in Eastern Europe. It's possibly also true that they could be hired as mercenaries even after their own designs on empire had dwindled.  But I think the film takes advantage of the fact that so few historical records have ever been considered reliable by the West when it comes to these regions. So it's easy to fill the vacuum with some very old antisemitic claims, fables, rumors, etc..  The mention of Eisenhower in the movie was kind of a giveaway, too. It's like, Oh NO! The United States had a Jew in power once. How on earth could THAT have happened? Could it be . . . SATAN??" Trying to tie a connection back to Babylonian Child Sacrifice Black Magick, Secret Satanism, and Baal worship has long been a trope for those who need to think that no Jews like the Rothschilds and Eisenhowers (????) etc would not have been able to get into power in otherwise "Christian" nations without help from Satan.    Does child sacrifice actually work to gain power?? Does drinking blood? Does pedophilia??? (also mentioned in the movie) Yes, it's an evil world and many people have evil ideologies based on greed and lust and ego. But how exactly does child sacrifice or pedophilia or drinking blood produce a more powerful nation or cabal of some kind? To me that's a giveaway that the authors know that the appeal will be to people who don't really care about actual historical evidence. Also, the author(s) of the video proved that they have not done much homework, but are just trying to fill that supposed knowledge gap by grasping at old paranoid and prejudicial premises. (BTW, my mother and grandmother, in 1941 and 1942, sat next to Dwight Eisenhower's mother at an assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses. The Eisenhower family had been involved in a couple of "Christian" religions and a couple of them associated with IBSA and JWs for many years.)
  • Members

    • DL2APR60

      DL2APR60 0

      Member
      Joined:
      Last active:
    • K625XM

      K625XM 0

      Member
      Joined:
      Last active:
  • Recent Status Updates

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      65.4k
    • Total Posts
      158.9k
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      17,669
    • Most Online
      1,592

    Newest Member
    Miracle Pete
    Joined
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Service Confirmation Terms of Use Privacy Policy Guidelines We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.